Late late show: Reds slip at end to leave European qualification hopes hanging

Liverpool must now travel to Italy and win against Udinese to guarantee passage to the Last 32 of the Europa League

Doh! Suarez was guilty of giving the ball away for the equaliser (Photo: Chris Brunskill)

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It was not, perhaps, the best of nights to have reminders of past European glories revived by the sight of Rafa Benitez plastered across TV screens around Anfield.

This frankly poor effort against a distinctly ordinary Berne side was a far cry from those heady days when the likes of Juventus, Barcelona and Chelsea were vanquished on the way to Champions League finals.

Not only were minnows from the virtually part-time Swiss League not vanquished, Liverpool suffered the indignity of conceding a last minute equalising goal that means they may not even be on their way into the knock out stages of the decidedly second rate Europa League.

It shows how the mighty are currently fallen.

With this limp draw, the Reds must now win their final game, away to Udinese, to guarantee progress. Defeat in Italy means they are definitely out.

No wonder boss Brendan Rodgers couldn’t contain his anger at conceding such a soft goal at such a crucial time.

“It was very, very frustrating. We were leading twice, and we just had to control the final of the game,” he groaned.

“We missed a hatful of chances, and to then concede a goal like that in the last minute was intensely disappointing. I’m particularly upset that when Luis lost the ball, there wasn’t a tackle and we were walking back.

“They walked through to the edge of the box without a challenge and the strike was in the centre of the goal, so it was a disappointing one to concede all round. Our game management has to be much better.”

With a minute to go, Liverpool were through with a game to spare, and spared the onerous prospect of even having to take the likes of Suarez and Gerrard to Italy for the final game.

Now they will have to play them.

They face such an annoying prospect because once again at Anfield, they have shown defensive frailty under late pressure, and this time, it was a criminal goal to give away.

There seemed little danger when Luis Suarez wasted a shooting chance, but as Berne moved the ball forward without apparent menace, there was no urgency and not even a challenge.

Somehow, that allowed Elsad Zverotic the space to shoot on the edge of the box, and his effort down the middle went straight through the arms of an embarrassed Pepe Reina into the roof of the net.

No one was more devastated that Joe Cole, who had been substituted to perhaps his first standing ovation at Anfield after apparently providing the victory his performance had deserved.

He has endured a nightmare time at the club, and is clearly on his way out as soon as possible, but at least hinted at the latent talent that lies beneath with an impressive display that gave a first half goal to Jonjo Shelvey, and one for himself after the break to hint at promise in Liverpool’s formation.

Shelvey had already displayed the awareness and touch required of the advanced position with a fine flick from Martin Skrtel’s firm ball that had sent Cole racing through.

Then on 33 minutes, Cole was again coaxed in from the right, showing an impressive fluidity to exchange inventive passes with the talented Suso to break clear and cross to allow Shelvey the simplest of tap ins from close range.

It was a fine goal that illustrated all the good things about Rodgers’ system, as the interchanges and position and passes bamboozled a sea-sick visiting defence that is clearly woozy at the best of times.

By then Gerrard had joined the fray, replacing the injured Wisdom to add a little depth to the home midfield, but it was Cole who most impressed, as he offered he best performance of the season in the relatively sedate pace of this competition.

Yet even then, the defensive frailty that was to be the eventual undoing of the home side was exposed, moments after Cole had another shot saved.

It heralded a Berne attack, and when Farnerud’s sweeping pass found Raul Bobadilla on the left of the box, the centre forward smashed a first time volley that surprised Reina and flew into the far corner.

The cavalry came on in the form of Gerrard and Suarez, and seemed to do the trick when the pair set up Cole for an impressive turn and shot that went through the keeper’s legs, but in keeping with his time at Anfield, he was fated to be denied any lasting glory.

For Rodgers, it is another lesson learnt for his young side, and despite the frustration, there were no regrets about leaving his stars out:

“Our number one priority was to be as fresh as possible for the weekend and the next 10 days, but I don’t think the strength of the side was the problem, because we had the game under control. It was a harsh lesson.”